TIRUPATI: The Red Sanders Anti-Smuggling Task Force (RSASTF) on Friday arrested 10 interstate smugglers and woodcutters in the forest area close to Pincha Dam in Tirupati district.
The operation resulted in the confiscation of a significant haul, including 10 red sanders logs, two four-wheelers and a motorcycle.
According to RSASTF superintendent of Police, K. Chakravarthy, the task force deployed a team to comb the forest areas abutting Pincha Dam near Bodevandlapalli. Led by reserve inspector Suresh Kumar Reddy, the team stumbled upon a group of smugglers loading red sanders into a vehicle near Pincha-Jillelamanda Road, under the Bhakarapet range.
The operation led to the arrest of 10 individuals and seizure of 10 red sanders logs weighing 306kg.
As the task force advanced to apprehend the smugglers, some managed to evade capture by abandoning the logs in the process. A case has been registered at the Tirupati task force police station and the accused have been remanded into custody.
The arrested were Babu Mani (42), K Kannadas (30), K Kamal Kannan (28), Gnana Sekhar (32), Y Azith (23), R Rama Krishna (36), P Kali (47), Vijay Kumar (32), R Jaya Prakash (22) and G Prakasam (20). Notably, all these hailed from Tamil Nadu.
